Tutors

Some of the advertised tutors for the original Easter 2020 Sore Fingers Week are unable to come over in December. These have been removed from the list. SFSS are in the process of recruiting replacements. These will be listed as soon as we are able to comfirm their appointment.

Sore Fingers October Weekend 2019

NEW for 2019 - Andy Mackenzie - Improvisation

Andy Mackenzie has over forty years of experience as freelance recording and live performer covering a wide ranges of musical styles and still preforming up 150 live concerts a year!. Alongside his live and recording work, Andy is currently the Jazz guitar tutor at Bangor University and has delivered several classes in Jazz and improvisation including prestigious institutions such as LIPA. He also co-authored Masters of Jazz guitar published in 1999 and continue to write reviews for the music press. And to top that all, Andy is a proficient Flatpick Bluegrass Guitar and banjo player! His knowledge of music, scales, harmony and chord sequences equip him perfectly to deliver the great class we believe this new venture is going to provide!

Trevor Hyett is the instigator of this course with our full endorsement so here is his introduction:Before we get in too deep, we must emphasize that this course is not instrument specific and will benefit all including singers.This new course for this October’s Sore Fingers Weekend which we believe you might find tempting: essentially, it’s about developing advanced strategies for taking an instrumental break…IMPROVISATION. We’ve developed a full-blown weekend designed to help players of any and all instruments to take a convincing and rewarding break over any chord changes…not just the 3-chord tricks that we all know and love. As such it might be more suited to higher intermediate and advanced, more experienced players. As is implicit in the above paragraph, this weekend’s class/workshop will be open to all instrumentalists (and singers too, if you like to scat!). A unique departure from the usual instrument-specific classes we’re all familiar with. The tutor will be one of my favourite players: Andy MacKenzie. Many of you will know him from Easter’s at Kingham as he has come along especially to take part in David Grier and Grant Gordy’s classes.. (BTW – check out his shredding Blackberry Blossom on YouTube…absolutely knock-out!!). Andy is a great, professional with, in addition to his bluegrass flat-picking skills, great swing and jazz chops…and a truly innovative improviser.Uniquely this course, as part of the Sore Fingers October Weekend, will bring players of different instruments to play together collaboratively and creatively to take a giant step down the never-ending road of IMPROVISATION.End of sales pitch…but I’ve booked already!! Come and join me!

Bill Forster - Banjo

Bill Forster has been playing banjo for as long as anyone can remember. He was a key member of a couple of “big” bluegrass bands, “The Acme Bluegrass Band” and Generation Gap”. Both outfits played the B.G. festival circuit every summer and Bill’s banjo playing and singing was appreciated by many. On retiring, Bill relocated to Ireland and we saw less of him until a few years ago when he appeared with Kevin’ Garrett’s “Dalebilly” band at the Orwell Bluegrass festival. It was the first time we had heard Bill in many years and to say he was on fire would be an understatement. This indicated Bill's revival on the scene and he has been an inspiring tutor at S.Fingers a few times now.Bill is an absolutely fabulous player.Early in his career he visited the USA to immerse himself in the music and be taught by some of the great american exponents of the time. Over several decades now Bill Forster has proved his five string banjo prowess and delighted us in the U.K. with his ability to play: flat out Scruggs style, melodic like Bill Keith, or in the more pyrotechnic modern style. We are proud to welcome him onto the tutor roster for Sore Fingers.

Ben Somers - Bass

Ben Somers grew up surrounded by music as his father Steve Somers was and still is a very active professional musician. Steve was a long time colleague of Peter Sayers well known for his part in the UK country and bluegrass scene.Ben began playing the saxophone at the age of 16 and went on to study jazz at university in London. It was around this time that he got drawn back to the sounds of his childhood and got hooked on bluegrass, country and western swing. He got hold of a double bass and fully immersed himself in the music.Currently Ben tours regularly with Seal, singing backing vocals and playing sax. He has also played and recorded with the likes of Dr John, Dizzee Rascal, Mika, Leon Hunt, Krystle Warren and many more. He is also very active on the jazz and world scene playing as a regular member of the Gareth Lockrane big band, Kate william's septet (daughter of John ), Real Word recording artists Dub Colossus, Latin ensemble Manteca.Ben is interested by all forms of music and by making music with others. He has several regular Bluegrass line ups but the most current is the Ben Somers String Band. See them a a festival near you!

Noel Dashwood - Dobro

Not too long ago, a young Dobro player attended the Sore Fingers October Weekend and took Martin Froud’s class. Martin said: “we need to keep an eye on that boy…” Well that wasn’t difficult as over the next few months, Noel was in the constant view of crowds at festivals with that Dobro! Joining in with anything and everything and it was only later we discovered the delights of Alden, Patterson & Dashwood, the band that would bring out his superb talent on this instrument. The following October, he was teaching at Sore Fingers! That's what one calls fast-tracking!Not only is Noel a fabulous player but he proved without out doubt to be a great teacher too. Now we’ve got a problem because he’s a busy bee touring with the trio and making festival appearances everywhere in the UK and Europe. But, he’s a keen visitor to Sore Fingers, and we managed to get in early and secure his services. You won’t be disappointed, he will deliver a great course and his mentor, Martin Froud has threatened to drop in. Don’t miss it!

Davis West - Fiddle

Japanese-American violinist Davis West has been active in the Detroit and Berlin scenes as a jazz and bluegrass fiddler, singer-songwriter, producer and composer. After earning his Bachelors at University of Michigan where he studied both jazz and classical violin, he went on tour with the dynamic string band Barrage 8 as their violinist and keyboardist. He then pursued his Masters in Contemporary Performance and Production at Berklee College of Music’s Valencia campus under the tutelage of Casey Driessen. Since then, he has been active in the Berlin music scene as a member of the Composers’ Orchestra Berlin, an educator at Global Music Academy, and most recently as the fiddle player for London-based bluegrass quartet, Ben Somers String Band. Davis’ notable collaborators include Benny Golson, Al Di Meola, Gary Willis, Casey Driessen, and Benny Green.

Dorian Ricaux - Guitar

Dorian’s journey in music began even before he was old enough to pick up an instrument growing up, surrounded by bluegrass, in a family of musicians. By age fourteen he had fallen in love with the playing of Tony Rice and began teaching himself to play guitar.Dorian’s passion for acoustic music in all its forms has opened up a multitude of musical worlds and he is currently involved with a multitude of projects with musicians from around the world including US musician Anthony Hannigan of the The Hickory Project and London based Ben Somers as part of the Ben Somers String Band. Current collaborations transcend all styles of music from bluegrass to jazz, Irish and French music and new acoustic music.He began teaching guitar and mandolin at seventeen in his home region of Normandy and for the last ten years has regularly taught workshops at the internationally renowned La Roche Bluegrass Festival. Most recently, he appeared with Ben and Davis at the Crossover Festival where he also ran a popular guitar workshop. So, be prepared for a bit of “je ne sais quoi” and some French style influenced flatpicking.

Rex Preston - Mandolin

Rex Preston is definitely one outstanding mandolin player. His track record on the bluegrass scene is second to none but when he teamed up with Miranda Sykes, he built up a stellar reputation as one of the finest and most sort after live acts on the English folk and roots scene. Rex was also a founder member of the Scoville Units with Banjo player Leon Hunt and guitarist Ed Boyd and made one of the best Bluegrass/Old Time Crossover CDs of all time. Since then he has gone on to work with Kate Rusby, Cara Dillon, Show Of Hands, Steve Knightly, Brian Finnegan, Aidan O'Rourke and Damian O'Kane amongst many others. In this time Rex has also built a strong reputation as a mandolin instructor both in workshops and on a one-to-one basis. His years of involvement with Sore Fingers Summer Schools have gained him a wealth of experience teaching many forms of music to all levels of ability, not to mention an extensive collection of focused lesson plans and repertoire. As one of his students once said: “you could write what he doesn't know about the mandolin on the back of a plectrum!Now he’s returning to teach mandolin at Sore Fingers and we’re glad about that. He belongs here…

Graeme Parry - Old Time Banjo

Graeme is a musician with a wide range of musical experiences to draw from. As a young man, fresh from music college, Graeme played in many bands around Nottingham and Derby making a good name for himself as a bass guitarist. After a few years he ventured off to Germany with a funk band and cut his teeth gigging and living music before coming back to the uk. Graeme now teaches music and performs with a number bands full time and has built a reputation as a great teacher, a talented clawhammer banjo player and a solid double bass player.Graeme currently plays banjo with The Brickyard Rounders, Pad the Hoof and The Midnight Specials. He also plays double bass in The Firecrackers and The Midnight Specials. He teaches music to individual students on a daily basis and has run workshops at Crossover and Gainsborough festivals.

Dave Proctor - Old Time Fiddle

Dave first started playing Old Time Fiddle at the Augusta Heritage Festival at Elkins, West Virginia in 1989. He did workshops there with Dave Bing and Gerry Milnes in the days before FOAOTMAD was formed.He found the experience of hearing and meeting master old time players such as Melvyn Wine, Clyde Davenport and Glen Smith a revelation, and has been an enthusiastic and active old time fiddler ever since.He cites his main influences as Melvyn Wine, Earl Collins, Wilson Douglas, and Tommy Jarrell. Dave performs regularly with his bands the Firecrackers, The Brickyard Rounders and the Midnight Specials. He can also be found playing Cajun music in his other bands The Po’ Boys, R Cajun & the Zydeco Brothers and the Bearcats. Dave will teach several complete old time tunes during his workshops, with emphasis on ‘down-bowing’, bow licks, any many other ways to achieve the sound of old time fiddle.

Roger Jackson - Singing

Roger is a composer and arranger with a background in film, TV and recording. He continues to produce recordings, and leads choirs of various types, as well as running singing workshops and courses across the country. A founder member of The Woodberrys, he is always keen to promote singing and, in the bluegrass context, bring it in line with the study of the other instruments that we use.He runs the annual “Three Days in May” singing course, and you can catch him each year at Towersey Festival, leading the Fabulous Festival Choir. Many of you will have joined him in the big singing session at Sore Fingers over the last few years, as well as other festivals.He is also a leading light in men’s singing too, teaching at “BlokeFest” and “Singing in the Shed”, and of course, writing repertoire for these groups. The technicalities of music can sometimes appear daunting, but Roger has the ability to impart all of this with a light and humorous touch, putting everyone at ease, giving everyone the confidence to free their voice, and really enjoy the singing.In this October weekend, he will get you singing in harmony with others to make a great sound together.